Cute Cat Friday 2016-01-01: The Year of Four Cats

Ancient Rome had the Year of Four Emperors; this was our Year of Four Cats.

Only Belle was with us at both start and end of 2015; but fervently knocking wood, we hope Joni will be a keeper. The other two of course were the late and much missed Dexter, who passed away in May; and Freddie, who we adopted and kept for two months, but had to send back when he proved too aggressive towards Belle.

Top row: Dexter, Belle. Bottom row: Freddie, Joni. Click for larger versions.

Belle and Joni are gradually growing more tolerant of each other; not yet hanging out in the same room, but we have high hopes of getting there soon.

Incidentally, my new favourite Wikipedia disclaimer is, "not to be confused with the Year of Five Emperors or the Year of Six Emperors".

The Hard Case of Fast Freddie

Rehoming Freddie in the style of film noir. What can I say, I was trying to avoid work.

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It was another hard case today. My pal Fast Freddie got in trouble with a dame. It's always the dames. He had to skip town, so he kept his head down in the back seat, while I drove him through the rainy streets to a place where they ask no questions. He can stay there until the heat is off.

Next week he'll be back out in the world, with a new name, far away from the woman who brought him low. He should have known better than to mess with a classy lady like her.

Don't know if I'll ever understand this case, but at least a few beers will help it settle into perspective.

Farewell to Freddie

With the greatest reluctance, we have decided to rehome Freddie.

This is not a decision we took lightly, but it's time to face the facts. Freddie is aggressive towards Belle. His behaviour is not just youthful exuberance, boredom, or fearfulness from being in a new place. He's gotten loose a couple of times in the last week. On both occasions he went straight for Belle, and a fight ensued with fur torn out on both sides.

We've done everything advised to help cats acclimate to each other. We've had very carefully controlled contact between them. Belle is not at all confrontational, and happy to keep her distance. None of it makes any difference to Freddie's behaviour. Carrying on is not fair to Belle, us, our baby son, or even to Freddie himself.

He is a young, healthy cat, very friendly with humans, so I'm sure the Blue Cross will have little difficulty finding a new home for him. It is painful, but we have come to believe it is the responsible thing to do.

The sad and confusing thing is that Freddie is a cuddly, gentle fluffball with human beings. He doesn't even mind being grabbed by our baby son Z (not his real name), who is eight months old and has absolutely no idea of restraint. That is the saddest part for us; Freddie and Z got along so well, and we could see them becoming great friends as Z grew up, but it is not to be. At least Z is too young to really understand what is happening or miss Freddie when he is gone.

As I've written before, cats are not little furry humans. They do not see the world the way we do. You can't reason with them, you can only try to work with their instincts.

Right now, Belle needs some peace and quiet and stability, and in all honesty so do we. At this point we're going to wait at least until next spring before we consider adopting another cat.

We're going to miss Freddie; but we had two months with the most affectionate cat we ever met, and nothing will ever take that away from us. We hope he finds another family soon, and they have a long and happy life together.

If you are interested in adopting Freddie, please enquire with Blue Cross Cambridge (where he is known by the name Steve). He will appear on their website sometime in the next day or so.

Update: On a lighter note, I've retold this story in the style of a noir private eye.

Update 2015-08-27: Freddie is now listed for adoption on the Blue Cross website.

Update 2015-09-05: Freddie's listing has been removed from the website. We hope he has found the loving new home he deserves.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-08-21: Freddie

King of the cat castle.

Introductions to Belle continue. We think they're making progress but slow and steady is the order of the day.

On the plus side, Freddie is amazingly tolerant of our baby son, who is poking, grabbing, and drooling on him at any opportunity. I think they're going to be good friends.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-08-07: Freddie

What's down there?

Freddie continues trying to pick fights with Belle, so we make sure to have her protected by a strong barrier if they meet. He does back down after she snarls at him enough, so we're hoping he will eventually get the message and consider a truce.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-07-24: Freddie

Our insolent little cat is sticking out his tongue at us.

Introductions between Freddie and Belle are still a work in progress. Unfortunately there was a setback, when we put them in the same room and Freddie started a fight within twenty minutes. He hasn't spent much time being socialized with other cats, and I don't think he recognised Belle's hissing and growling as a warning to back off.

Still, we are persevering and hoping the newest member of our family will learn some manners.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-07-10: Freddie

Enjoying the morning sunshine.

We're told Freddie has only ever been an indoor cat, but he's definitely curious about the outside world. Once he and Belle are more used to each other, we'll let him out the cat flap and the world will be his.

Cute Cat Friday 2015-06-26: Introducing Freddie

This is Freddie, the latest addition to our family.

We had thought of waiting longer before adopting another cat, but Belle seems to really miss having another feline for company, and when we dropped by the Blue Cross shelter last week Freddie captured our hearts at once. We brought him home on Sunday and so far he is settling in nicely.

Freddie is a one year old male, named for Freddie Mercury because of his exuberant and outgoing nature. He is one of the friendliest cats we have ever met, and demands affection any chance he gets. We think he may be either a Bombay cat or a Burmese-domestic cross; but no matter his ancestry, he's a very handsome, playful and affectionate feline. He even tolerates being poked, prodded and grabbed by our baby son without complaining.

For now we are keeping Freddie separate from Belle in the spare room. They have glimpsed each other a few times when the door is open and neither one seems at all hostile, so we are optimistic they will soon be getting along well.

Here's to Freddie having a long and happy life in our home!